History and Development

Agni-I was first tested at the Interim Test Range in Chandipur in 1989, and is capable of carrying a conventional payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) or a nuclear warhead. Agni missiles consist of one (short range) or two stages (intermediate range). These are rail and road mobile and powered by solid propellants.

The Agni I has a range of 700–1250 km.They are claimed to be a part of the “Minimum Credible deterrence“.

Agni-I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and rail mobile, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). The need for the Agni-I was felt after the Kargil war with Pakistan. It took DRDO 15 months to develop the Agni-I after having completed Agni-II development. It is propelled by solid fuel. Maneuvering RV body-lift aerodynamics give it the ability to correct trajectory errors and reduce thermal stresses. The MRV has a velocity correction package to correct launch trajectory variances. Some Agni RV versions use a set of solid fueled thruster cartridges of predetermined impulse, allowing the onboard guidance controller to trim velocity, using discrete combination of impulse quanta along the desired spatial orientation. The 15 metre tall Agni-1 missile, weighing about 12 tonnes, is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads of 1,000 kg. Calculations suggest a distance of 1500 km can, theoretically, be reached if the missile were to be made of composites & carrying a lesser mass of payload.

Operational History

Indian Army regularly conducts user trials of the missile mainly to train the user team to launch the missile. The tests are normally conducted by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army with logistic support from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Such User trials were carried out multiple times since 2007, with the first one being in October 5, 2007 from Wheelers’ Island and the latest one being on November 27, 2015. Another successful user trial was conducted on March 14, 2016 from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island).